Man sentenced to death for rape, murder of minor girl in Pakistan

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa :A court in Dera Ismail Khan has awarded death sentence and Rs900,000 fine to a person for sexually abusing and killing a minor girl.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Usman Wali Khan announced the verdict saying that Muhammad Bilal has been awarded death sentence and Rs9 lakh fine. Muhammad Bilal had kidnapped a minor girl from a marriage ceremony on 26 January, 2017. Police said the body of the girl was found two days after the kidnapping. Bilal, who was a relative of the victim girl, was arrested during investigations and he had confessed to sexually abusing and killing the girl.

The members of the victim girl’s family were present in the court during the verdict. They expressed satisfaction over the trial and sentence.

The convict can challenge his sentence within 15 days.

Despite severe punishments handed by the courts, the incidents of sexual abuse of children are still happening in different parts of the country, which is a matter of grave concern for the parents and law enforcement agencies.

According to a report by Sahil, nine children were abused in a day during the year 2017 across Pakistan. In its annual report on child sexual abuse titled ‘Cruel Numbers 2017’, Sahil said 3,445 child abuse cases were reported by the media across the country in 2017.